Alexander Wood (3 May 1879 – 1 April 1950) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate caus ...

who worked as researcher and university lecturer in the field of

acoustics Acoustics is a branch of physics that deals with the study of mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids including topics such as vibration, sound, ultrasound and infrasound. A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acoustician ...

and

experimental physics Experimental physics is the category of disciplines and sub-disciplines in the field of physics that are concerned with the observation of physical phenomena and experiments. Methods vary from discipline to discipline, from simple experiments and ...

Biography

Son of Sir Alexander Wood of Partick, he was born in Scotland and educated at

Glasgow University , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

and obtained a doctorate in 1907. That very year he went to

Emmanuel College, Cambridge Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mon ...

, where he became a fellow and tutor. At the fiftieth anniversary of the discovery of the electron, Wood lectured on the work and history of the

Cavendish Laboratory The Cavendish Laboratory is the Department of Physics at the University of Cambridge, and is part of the School of Physical Sciences. The laboratory was opened in 1874 on the New Museums Site as a laboratory for experimental physics and is named ...

of which he was a well-known and active member. Future Nobelist

George Paget Thomson Sir George Paget Thomson, FRS (; 3 May 189210 September 1975) was a British physicist and Nobel laureate in physics recognized for his discovery of the wave properties of the electron by electron diffraction. Education and early life Thomson ...

, who attended Wood's lectures of physics, would comment later: "these were outstanding both in material and exposition, and impressed me greatly." Similarly,

Alan Lindsay Mackay Alan Lindsay Mackay FRS (born 6 September 1926) is a British crystallographer, born in Wolverhampton. He spent his scientific career at Birkbeck College, founded by George Birkbeck, one of the Colleges of the University of London, where he was ...

, who was Wood's student, mentioned him as one of his great professors and someone whose lectures were full of demonstrations. In addition, scientist Charles Alfred Coulson spoke of Alex as one of his three major influences, and

Lawrence Bragg Sir William Lawrence Bragg, (31 March 1890 – 1 July 1971) was an Australian-born British physicist and X-ray crystallography, X-ray crystallographer, discoverer (1912) of Bragg's law, Bragg's law of X-ray diffraction, which is basic for t ...

corresponded with him asking for help in his research. As a pupil of

Lord Kelvin William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, (26 June 182417 December 1907) was a British mathematician, Mathematical physics, mathematical physicist and engineer born in Belfast. Professor of Natural Philosophy (Glasgow), Professor of Natural Philoso ...

(William Thomson) at the University of Glasgow, Wood acquired some of his religious practices as the habit of praying before lecturing. He was a devout Christian and active member of the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...

in Cambridge, worshiping regularly at St Columba's Church in Downing Street and held Bible lessons and spoke about the relation between science and religion. In addition, along with

Kees Boeke Cornelis "Kees" Boeke (25 September 1884 3 July 1966) was a Dutch reformist educator, Quaker missionary and pacifist. He is best known for his popular essay/book '' Cosmic View'' (1957) which presents a seminal view of the universe, from the ga ...

and Herbert Gray, during the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he was a member of the

Fellowship of Reconciliation The Fellowship of Reconciliation (FoR or FOR) is the name used by a number of religious nonviolent organizations, particularly in English-speaking countries. They are linked by affiliation to the International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR). ...

, a group of religious pacifists.; at the time of conscription he was a

conscientious objector A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to object ...

. He was a leading member of the

Peace Pledge Union The Peace Pledge Union (PPU) is a non-governmental organisation that promotes pacifism, based in the United Kingdom. Its members are signatories to the following pledge: "War is a crime against humanity. I renounce war, and am therefore determine ...

, serving as Chair, 1940–46, and was also active in the

National Peace Council The National Peace Council (NPC), founded in 1908 and disbanded in 2000, acted as the co-ordinating body for almost 200 groups across Britain, with a membership ranging from small village peace groups to national trade unions and local authorities. ...

. After his death, theologian

Charles E. Raven Charles Earle Raven (4 July 1885 – 8 July 1964) was an English theologian, Regius Professor of Divinity at Cambridge, and Master of Christ's College, Cambridge. His works have been influential in the history of science publishing on the posi ...

wrote a biography of the physicist entitled ''Alex Wood: the man and his message'' (1952). In the 1929 general election Wood stood as the Labour Party candidate for the two-member

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

constituency, coming bottom of the poll with 1,463 votes (9.1%) at the first count. He then stood on three occasions as a Labour candidate for the

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

seat: in the

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

and

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude Franco-Italian Agreement of 1935, an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * ...

general elections, and at the intervening by-election in February 1934. The headquarters of Cambridge

Constituency Labour Party __NOTOC__ A constituency Labour Party (CLP) is an organisation of members of the British Labour Party who live in a particular parliamentary constituency. In England and Wales, CLP boundaries coincide with those for UK parliamentary constituenc ...

in Norfolk Street are named after him as is Alex Wood Road in Arbury and the Alex Wood Care Home in Fortescue Road.

Works

*
The physical basis of music
'; Cambridge University press; (Originally published in 1913, though there were further editions in 1945, 1954 and 1975) *
Joule and the study of energy
' (1925); G. Bell and Sons Ltd. *

' (1927) * ''Sound waves and their uses'' (1930). ** Also published as ''Sound waves and their uses; six lectures delivered before a "juvenile auditory" under the auspices of the Royal institution, Christmas, 1928'' (1931). * ''Planning for good acoustics'' (1931); coauthored with

Hope Bagenal Philip Hope Edward Bagenal, (11 February 1888 – 20 May 1979) was a British architectural theorist and acoustician who introduced a scientific approach to the acoustic design of buildings. Education and early career Bagenal, known by his s ...

* ''The Cavendish Laboratory'' (1931); 1946 * ''Science Wisdom and War: Through the Ages Science Has Given Destructive Intentions to War'' (1934) * ''Acoustics'' (1940) * ''The Physics of Music'' (1944) * ''Atomic Energy: Notes on the Course of Negotiations for Its Control'' (1950) ;Posthumous * ''Thomas Young: Natural Philosopher 1773-1829'' (1954; 2011)

Bibliography

* Jeans, Sir James Hopwood. 1928. ''The Physics of the Universe, Volume 165''. R. & R. Clark, limited, * Navarro, Jaurme. 2012. ''A History of the Electron: J. J. and G. P. Thomson''. Cambridge University Press. * Rupke, Nicolaas A. 2009. ''Eminent Lives in Twentieth-century Science & Religion''. Peter Lang * Wood, Alexander. 2011. ''Thomas Young: Natural Philosopher 1773-1829''. Cambridge University Press.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Alexander 1879 births 1950 deaths Alumni of the University of Glasgow Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge Fellows of Emmanuel College, Cambridge Cavendish Laboratory Scottish physicists Scottish Christians Scottish pacifists Calvinist pacifists British conscientious objectors